New Balance Taps Rosalía as Global Brand Ambassador with Cinematic Campaign

​New Balance, the leading independent sports footwear and apparel manufacturer since 1906, has named Spanish pop and flamenco singer Rosalía as its newest brand ambassador. The announcement marks the brand’s deeper move into entertainment, partnering with artists and celebrities who not only excel in their craft but are also deeply committed to giving back to their communities.

To promote the news and tease the release of the new 204L, New Balance has launched a new ad campaign developed in partnership with American Haiku, a Brooklyn-based creative agency. The work hinges on what an ‘ambassadorship’ really means: It’s not just a poster with two names on it, but an alliance, a mission, someone bringing forth something incredible to the world.

A series of photos showcases a deeper level of storytelling and invites consumers to immerse themselves in the world of New Balance through the lens of Rosalìa. The highly stylised and cinematic still images tell the story of a package changing hands in Boston before the carrier – wearing New Balance 204Ls – speeds through the rain with a final destination of NYC. As the woman reaches her destination and enters an office in Midtown, the lobby falls silent. She makes her way to a boardroom and lays the package down in front of a room of serious executives… gasps, awes, and shock reverberate through the room. The package reveals that it’s Rosalìa as the new face of New Balance’s 204L. The future is here.

Elements of the campaign include OOH, including print and digital, social, New Balance’s website, and a global media partnership with Harper’s Bazaar. The campaign draws on themes from American Haiku’s first work for New Balance, ‘Grey Days,’ a long-form film which highlighted different eras and aspects of the brand’s history, from its running heritage to its icon status in the 1980s, and even the mythology around the 990 – the first $100 sneaker.